If there's one thing important
to have
in Switzerland if your going outside is an accurate weather forecast. A
word of advice. Don’t trust yahoo or weather.com. They’re often wrong and the
data is old. The Swiss know their weather and are rarely wrong.Click here
for the forecast.It’s in German, but you can look at the pictures.

Hiking

Rigi:You have to hike the up Rigi
once in your life! Takes
about 3-4 hours to get to the summit from Arth-Goldau! Couch potato secret:
There is a cog-wheel train straight to the top, so you can always get out the
stop before the top, but not tell anyone. If you’re a real sport, hike down the
other side to Meggen or
Vitznau in just another 2-3 hours.
Web
Cam

Grosse Scheidegg:
This is my personal favorite hike! From
Meiringen,
take the Post Auto up the mountain to
Schwarzwaldalp. There is a small restaurant near the last stop. Follow the signs
for theGrosse Scheidegg.Bring a picnic lunch, a blanket to
sit on and your camera. On this trip you’ll find some of the most
beautiful scenery you’ll ever see. I always hike there at
least once a year. It’s worth it!! It takes about an hour if you’re in decent
shape, but it’s still not too strenuous if your a couch potato. Keep walking down the other
side into Grindelwald if you want.

Bonus Trivia: Meiringen was the
place where
Sherlock Holmes was killed at the Reichenbach waterfall in the last novel. There is a
small museum in town devoted to this.

Engelberg to the
Jochpass:
A monster of a hike.

The
road less traveled hiking

Solothurn to
Farnen: From Solothurn,take the bus (or better yet, take the ski
lift that’s open all year) to the
Weissenstein restaurant.Have lunch there, I recommend
the fleisch Teller and “pomm Frites”. (deli meat and french fries). Travel East
and hike along the mountain ridge that runs towards
Olten.There are some awesome views of the French Jura
on your left, the Swiss Alps on your right, as well as the whole Berner
Oberland. In some areas the trail is only a few meters wide, but the trail is
flat most of the way and not really dangerous. Take the town bus down from Farnen,or continue walking all the way to Oensingen.
Web Cam

Hoch
Ybrig:
In winter, this place is teeming with skiers from Zürich, but spring and summer
are great for hiking. This place is about 40 mins from Zurich (near Einsiedeln),
relatively unknown outside of Switzerland,
and of course beautiful. The peak offers awesome
views of Pilatus, Vierwaldstättersee and the Rigi. If your really adventurous, try
to find and stay on the trail to hike down the other side to Muotathal. Web Cam

Zürich Zoo to Dubendorf to
Gockhausen: Actually
there are so many inter-connecting trails here it's impossible to get lost even
if you try. There's a running trail with exercise stations for the marathon and
Ironmen/women. Trail range form easy to medium. Just wander wander wander. If
you're lucky you'll see a deer, a fox or some of the birds living at the zoo. I
saw a stork for the first time (no baby hanging from the beak though)

Walenstadt to Weesen: This is a small but quaint town
located right on the southern end of the Walensee. You catch any Post Auto that
heads out of the main train station as long as it it heading up. You can walk
it, but it's a long, hard walk. Once your up there are many choices of hikes:
easy (walk back down to the lake and head to Weesen); medium (follow the ridge
in either direction, but give yourself enough time to get back down; hard (head
up, up, up and follow the ridge again. When I hiked this it was end of May05 and
still 4 feet of snow on the top. We stopped and had a picnic on the roof of a
mountain hut! Choose the way down that's a bit longer as sometimes the trail can
be obliviated by avalanches in the winter.

Falsenegg to Uetliberg: You can take the goldola up or
walk up from Adliswil across the ridge that parallels Zurich Lake. Once you get
up it's quite an easy hike, but if you decide to walk up it's a good workout.
Once your on the Uto Kulm in Uetliberg (which is called the Top-of-Zurich) you
can take the train down or walk back down into town. On nice Sundays, this is
where many Zürich locals are hiking.

Big Time Skiing

Davos:
This is a world
renowned ski region, but here are a few tips. Snowboarders go to
Jakob’s Horn! Skiers go to
Parsenn.
You’ll be happier.

Madrisais another great place on the Klosters side; there’s usually less people, but
be warned; if you’re not good on the tow ropes forget it!!

Engleberg: A
bit of a drive from Zürich;, butexcellent slopes, excellent views, excellent skiers & excellent prices.
Tourists abound. Not the easiest mountain to get up so get there eatly. You can
ski all
year round on the
Titlis.Web Cam

Flims-Laax:
Two towns
combined into one huge ski resort. It's
about 1 and half hours from Zürich. More parking at Laax then Flims. Some of the
best glacier runs in all Switzerland.
WebCams

The
road less traveled for Skiing

Hoch Ybrig
(SZ):
About 50 minutes from Zürich, this is a hidden gem known mostly by locals. There
are some challenging lifts and hadly anyone there during the week.

Flumserberg (SG):A
little over 1 hour from Zürich, this is a great place for beginners and there are a
number of challenging slopes as well. It’s great
because it’s close to Zürich and the price is affordable for the size of the
place. Try the last black run descent to the gondola lift. Yikes! Web Cam

Hasliberg (BE): Opposite
from
Meiringen, Hasliberg is Swiss-German for "Little Rabitt Mountain". The
accomodations are a bit scarce on the mountain so it's better to stay in town, but the skiing is great and when there's no
snow, there's some awesome hikes!!

Brunni
(SZ):
Drive towards the popular town of
Einsiedeln (Visit the monestary there if you want; the official "brown" Virgin
Mary is located in the church) Follow the signs to Alpthal and just keep driving
until the end. Very good prices, great for beginners and those who
just want to get on the slopes ASAP. At night , try to arrange an evening Torch
(Fachel)
run down the mountain after a heaping portion of fondue.

Unteriberg (SZ): In the
summer there
is windsurfing on the Sihlsee,
golf , biking, hiking, fly fishingand friendly locals. The Sport Hotel has a
heated indoor pool with tennis courts. It is truely a vacationers pardise.

Wangen an der Aare (BE): My sentimental
favorite. I stayed here on my first
visit to Switzerland. Relaxing & quiet during the day; you can sit on the banks
of the river Aare and read a book, rent a boat, BBQ or swim. At night, check
out the Schützenhouse across the old Holtzbrücke
(wooden Bridge)
where you may find half the Swiss army out drinking and partying. Also, there’s
a cool restaurant/bed and breakfast/bar across from
Hotel Kronein the Altstadt where the pizza, beer and locals are
friendly. The owner’s a bit of
a Harley Davidson freak, so be sure to mention it.

Kilchberg (ZH):
A nice, quiet, little community right
next to Zürich. Home to one of the Lindt and Sprüngli chocolate factories. Two
nice restaurants
Oberer Mönchhof
and a sister restaurant on the lake calledUnterer Mönchhof. Good Italian
food at the Restaurant Schwelle. Check out the head waiters toupee!

Anzere (VS):
Summer or winter you can't beat it.
There are simply great hikes!! You can hike to the observation area where the
Swiss universities study the effects of avalanches. Views of the Italian and
French Alps.
Web Cam

Bellinzona (TI): Most people will tell you to go to Locarno or
Lugano. In my humble opinion Bellinzona is the best of both. Sure there's no
lake, but there are several beautiful castles, scenery and a much more local feel to the
place
Virtual Tour

Ascona (TI):After visiting Bellinzona, visit this sun-soaked beautiful
little town on the outskirts of Locarno. A bit pricey, but a great place to hang
out when the weather is gray up north. There is also a lovely botanical garden
located on a island a short 15 minute boat ride away.

Rapperswil (SG):The most beautiful city on Lake Zürich hands down! Take
the boat from Rapperswil to Zürich and have dinner on the 3 hour trip.
Web Cam

Basel (BS): I'm getting to
know this place slowly, but surely. Lots of ex-pats here working in the
pharmaceutical industry. A few cool bars to imbibe in; most noteable
Mr. Pickwicks
and
Paddy Reilly's.

Fun Auto Trips

Always check to see if the pass is open. They don't plow some of them. Once,
I was driving and the road suddenly ended with a 5 foot pile of snow.

Kandersterg
to
Goppenstein:If you like tunnels try
this one. You drive you car onto the train, sit and 20 minutes later your in the
French speaking part of Switzerland. It's an eerie feeling, sitting in your car, zooming through a
pitch black, long, dark tunnnel at 140 kmh without steering. In fact, you can't
even see your hand in front of your face!! Experience it with someone you
love.

Sustenpass to
Meiringen:You
need to have nice weather in June to October to fully enjoy this one. Incredible
glacier views and cool stops along the way. Try to find the signs in
Switzerlands 4th official language, Romansch. Special note: enjoy, but
watch out for the motorcyclists doing their unbelievable "death pass" moves
around slow moving vehicles (you most certainly will be one of these vehicles).

San Bernadino Pass: Take this pass from Chur or
from Locarno. While all the German's, Italians and French are waiting in line at
the Gotthard Tunnel, you'll zip through here in half the time. If you can, make sure you go over the pass and don't cheat and go
through the tunnel. You'll be amazed at the views, peace and tanquility above.
Get out and have a picnic during the summer; bring a sweater though.

Klausen Pass:
The back way to the Gotthard
Tunnel. You travel through several cantons and some beautiful old villages,
Glarus, Schwändi, Linthal to get there; slowly climbing in elevation until you
reach the Klausen Pass 1950m. Stop at the hotal on the top for a "Pflümli" and
then it's down the other side into Altdorf. If you've got time, take the turn
off at Schwanden to visit the towns of Elm and Matt. Great for hiking
and biking too!

Simplon Pass:
Connects Italy to Southwest Switzerland. Very steep
at first, but the top is a pleasure to get out and hike when the weathers nice.
If you're willing to do a bit
of hiking you're not far from seeing the Matterhorn along with the dozens of other 4000m peaks in the area.
Head down into italy for some pasta and then back again over to the
Valais region of Switzerland for dinner. This area is famous for its
unintelligible dialect even by the Swiss standards.

Grimsel Pass
/ Furka Pass:
Two passes in one. If you do one you might as well
do the other. Take the main freeway in the direction of the Gotthard Tunnel.For
the Grimsel Pall, head up from Wassen to Gletch, stop there and have lunch
staring in the face of a huge glacier. Pay a few Swiss Francs and hike on the glacier. From there, take the Furka Pass to head back to Andermatt and
the freeway you were on.